Botswana Khwai, Savute, Chobe Safari: Lion Sports

Our first goal this morning was to check the road between Pump Pan and Marabou Pan, and yes, there they were – the whole pack of Wild Dogs with a number of youngsters and pups. Oh, how they enjoyed the early morning as they gamboled around, hunted each other, plagued the adults – all right next to us, until they pushed off to join their mother in the distance. As it was too far for photography we continued our journey.

We arrived at Pump Pan to find five very young lionesses lounging around. Then they spotted some Impala and their attention was immediately focussed that way. One lioness started to stalk the impala and within seconds the others joined her. The area was open with short grass, making easy to follow and to collect fabulous images of the hunt action. We watched, cameras ready as the lionesses fanned out and approached – closer – closer – closer … any second now.

Then suddenly one of the lionesses broke cover …

Whaaat?

She bolted back towards us and dashed right past us. We turned around, confused … and then saw the reason.

One of the other lionesses had caught and killed a Banded Mongoose – and now the sports started as the lionesses enjoyed a game of football with the limp body of the catch. All five lionesses put on a fabulous show for us as they tossed the small carcass this way and that, threw it into the air, pounced on it, or dashed away with it with the other lions in hot pursuit – they had a wonderful time and so did we as we captured each delightful moment.

Then the game changed to a type of hide-and-seek as a lioness grabbed the remains and sprinted away to hide behind some bushes, where she was ‘discovered’ a short while later by a sister that grabbed the mongoose and rushed to another bush to hide.

The fun and games lasted for well over an hour, when it was time for us to leave for Kasane.

On the way back to the Lodge we found the female leopard that we saw the other day. She was stalking a Kori Bustard – I suppose stalking is a strong word for her very half – hearted approach, but it was a joy to see and photograph her again.

What an amazing, fantastic, final game drive in this remarkable part of our natural world …

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